Panelists | Performers | Market Artists
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Geo Soctomah Neptune
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Passamaquoddy Tribe
MEDIUM: Basketry - Ash, Clothing, Diverse-Arts
MARKET PERFORMER: Sunday, July 12, 10-10:30 a.m. on the Market Stage
BIOGRAPHY
Geo Neptune is a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe from Indian Township, Maine, and is a Master Basketmaker, a Drag Queen, an Activist and an Educator. As a person who identifies as a two-spirit, an indigenous cultural gender role that is a sacred blend of both male and female, Geo uses they/them gender-neutral pronouns.
At four years old, Geo had already been asking their grandmother Molly Neptune Parker to teach them how to weave baskets; after being told to wait until they were older, Geo found another elder that would teach them, and presented their grandmother with their first completed basket. Later that year, after turning five years old, Geo wove their first basket with their grandmother, beginning a lifelong apprenticeship.
After graduating from eighth grade at the Indian Township School, Geo attended Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine, where they were able to explore more artistic outlets before becoming a member of the Dartmouth College Class of 2010. Proficient in Spanish and a performing arts major, Geo studied abroad in both Barcelona and London during their time at Dartmouth.
When Geo graduated from Dartmouth College and returned to the Indian Township reservation, they began to focus heavily on their weaving, and developing their own individual artistic style. Experimenting with their family's signature woven flowers mixed with natural elements of twigs and branches, Geo began forming what would eventually be known as their signature sculptural style of whimsical, elegant, traditionally-informed basketmaking. During their time at home, Geo was also the Cultural Activities Coordinator and Drama Instructor for the Indian Township After School and Summer Programs, and eventually went on to serve as the Unit Director for the Passamaquoddy Boys and Girls Club. In 2012, Geo attended the Santa Fe Indian Market for the first time, accepted the position of Museum Educator at the Abbe Museum, and watched their grandmother receive the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship before moving to Bar Harbor.
Living in Bar Harbor, Geo maintained a life as a basketmaker, actor, drag queen, and activist in addition to serving as the Museum Educator. Participating in Idle No More protests here in Maine, Geo was invited as the first Indigenous youth delegate to the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Capetown, South Africa in 2014. After attending the Summit again in 2015, returning to Barcelona, Geo was then invited to attend a PeaceJam conference in Winchester, England, where they met Rigoberta Menchu Tum, the first and only Indigenous woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2016, Geo was the first drag queen on the cover of Native Peoples Magazine, with their story featured in the magazine's first official LGBTQ Pride issue. In late 2016, Geo decided to pursue their art and activism full time, and they now live back in their community at Indian Township. At home, they are able to spend more time with their apprentice and youngest sister Emma--who, at thirteen years old, has won numerous more awards for her basketry than Geo has--and with their grandmother, keeping the family and cultural tradition of basketry alive. Geo hopes to be able to work to embrace the sacred role of the two-spirit, truly becoming a keeper of tradition and a teacher and role model for Passamaquoddy and other Wabanaki youth. Most importantly, Geo hopes to inspire other two-spirits from across turtle island to accept their truth and embrace their sacred responsibility, and travels across the state and country educating learners of all ages about Wabanaki history and culture, the art of basketmaking, and what it means to them to be a Two-Spirit.
Connect with Geo
Kontiwennenha:Wi
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Mohawk
FEATURING: Bear Fox, Iawentas Nanticoke, Tekonwakwenni Nanticoke, and Elizabeth Nanticoke
PERFORMANCE: Market Performer - Saturday 12-1 p.m. on the Market Stage
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Sisters, aunties, daughters, mothers, and grandmothers from the Wolf Clan family of the Kanienkehaka Nation. Women holding a great responsibility of sharing traditional teachings and the protection and preservation of the language and the stories of past generations through their songs.
Kontiwennenha:wi; (pronounced: goon dee wa na ha wee), are from Ahkwesahsne, which is located where present-day Ontario, Quebec, and New York State intersect, settling in their territory on the St. Lawrence River. They are Kanienkehaka, People of the Flint, but are more commonly known as Mohawk.
Kontiwennenha:wi formed as a singing group in 1997, at a time when their children were learning the songs and dances of the Kanienkehaka at the Ahkwesahsne Freedom School. The school played an important part in holding on to the language and traditions that would have otherwise been lost if the children continued to learn in government-run public schools. Two of the women in the group, Iawentas and Tekonwakwenni, were students at the Ahkwesahsne Freedom School and are now teachers of the language. The women share social songs of the Six Nations and have created some verses of the Women’s Dance.
A water drum and horn rattles are used by the women when they perform.
Bear Fox is a singer/songwriter of folk songs that are shared with the accompaniment of the women’s voices. Many of the songs incorporate the Mohawk language and some of Bear’s songs were written and performed in English. The women have been recipients of the Native American Music Awards, as a group and Bear Fox, as a solo artist, too. The women are proud to share their songs and their lives as traditional women at this moment in time.
Burnurwubskek Singers
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot
PERFORMANCE: Market Performer - Saturday 11-11:45 a.m. on the Market Stage
Tania Morey
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Tobique
MEDIUM: Basketry - Ash
MARKET PERFORMER: Saturday, July 11, 10-10:30 a.m. on the Market Stage
ARTIST STATEMENT
My name is Tania Maria Morey. My grandparents were Donald and Mary Sanipass from The Aroostook Band of Micmacs. Grammy was from Eskasoni, Novia Scotia, and Grampy from Elsipogtog, New Brunswick.
I first learned to make a basket with my Grandmother at age 7. My dad’s parents were Simon Morey from Neqotkuk First Nation, and Irene Morey. I learned that grampy used to sing in a band in Perth Andover, NB. My parents were John and Marline Morey.
I grew up traveling with my maternal grandparents going to basket shows, blueberry raking, and helping to teach others how to make ash baskets. Creator blessed me with 5 daughters, Tiana, Mimiques, Gesigewie Tebgunset, Mishun, and Zi’gwan. My children are my light, and my greatest gifts here on Mother Earth.
I have passed down the art of weaving to my girls, and they carry the gift of song with them. I am now a Migajoo, Grandmother to Walquann, who is our newest little song bird. My earliest memory of singing I remember I was walking in the woods of Chapman, Maine. I could hear a rustling sound coming from the trees. I looked up, and asked them if they wanted me to sing to them; their leaves rustled in agreement. As I sang to them their leaves swayed to and fro.
When Mother Earth is my audience, that is when I truly feel Life flowing through me. This is where the wind answers as I pray through frequency. I am thankful for each day that I am blessed to be a part of this beautiful journey.
We’lalin
Hawk Henries
TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuck
MEDIUM: Musician, Woodworker
MARKET PERFORMER: Sunday, July 12, 12-12:45 p.m. on the Market Stage
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Hawk is a member of the Chaubunagungamaug band of Nipmuck, a people indigenous to what is now Southern New England. He has been composing original music and making Eastern Woodlands flutes using hand tools for over 30 years.
Hawk will play a variety of different flutes. He also enjoys sharing his experiences and perspectives about Life in hopes of acknowledging and honoring the Sacredness in each person and all cultures. He creates a calming yet engaging and contemplative space while maintaining a note of humor. His music is a reflection of thinking that we each have the capacity to make a change in the world.
Hawk has had the honor of presenting at venues such as The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Harvard Medical School Graduation, and in the U.K. with the London Mozart Players. He also enjoys educational settings from kindergarten to university and small venues where he can engage the audience in dialogue.
As a seasoned flute maker, Hawk has flutes all over the world and in several museums. He has three original CD's; First Flight, Keeping the Fire and Voices. He is also featured on the compilation CD Tribal Winds. His music has been used in a variety of films and documentaries, some of which won or were nominated for Emmy awards.
